(2011) The Gift of Death (34 page)

‘
You don’t think I’m capable? Well, there’ve been a couple of unsolved murders recently. Raymond Cutler - heard of him? No. Well let me fill you in. Raymond seemed like a respectable family guy, except that he liked little girls. Into internet porn, really disgusting stuff. Want to know what I did? I cut off his penis and Raymond bled to death.

‘
Need another example? I could tell you about Phil Vine, a drug dealer, who sold his shit to teens. I fed him a cocktail of drugs to die for – which is just what he did. And oh – I nearly forgot about Charles Garrison. Wife-beater. I’m surprised you haven’t heard about him. I smashed him over the head with a rock so hard his brains spewed out.

‘
In each case it was an appropriate match of crime and punishment, don’t you agree? Almost like divine justice, if you will.

‘
What was that? What am I going to do with you? You’d like a clue? Okay, let’s see. I’ve always wondered whether there is anyone out there like me. If there is anyone else who shares my dream.’

49

‘
Do we know how it got here?’ asked Josh.

‘
It seems like it was hand delivered to the front desk this morning at 5:37,’ said Lansing. ‘I spoke to Louisa Hammond, who took receipt of the parcel and logged it in. She describes the man as white, mid-thirties, square-jawed. Hammond can’t remember much else about him, but said that he was wearing a baseball cap. Hammond thought he was kind of quiet, but as it was early morning she didn’t think it was out of the ordinary.‘

‘
Okay – Lansing, I want you to check the security cameras. As we know the time you should be able to get an image for us almost straight away. Send the sequence over to me just as soon as you’ve found it.’ He turned to Helen. She wasn’t looking good. Jesus, that was an understatement. She looked like death. But if she wanted to use work as a way of blocking out the painful realities of her future – or rather lack of it – who was he to argue. ‘Helen – is there any word from the forensics lab yet?’

‘
They promised to get back to me within the hour. I told them it was a high priority so they’re doing everything they can.’

An image of the contents of the package flashed into his mind. Two fingertips surrounded by a halo of blood. Who did they belong to? And what connection did they have to the case? He felt blind, manipulated, a participant in a game in which he didn’t know the rules. Just like in the rest of his life. What a fucking mess he’d made of it all. Once, he’d been certain about what he wanted. He had his life with Kate. They planned a future together. He had loved her. It was a love that he could feel, something concrete, solid. Is that how he felt with Jules? He wasn’t sure. Fuck. But this was no time to think about that.

Just then his phone rang. It was Lansing.

‘
It looks like I’ve got it,’ he said. ‘I’ve edited the shots down and I’m sending the file over to you now,’ he said.

Less than a second later Harper double-clicked on the icon on his screen. The image sequence – in grainy and black and white – showed a man holding a package walking into the office and up to the desk. He handed over the parcel to Hammond, who then entered the details into the log book, after which the man turned around and left. By the time Harper had watched it through, Lansing was standing by his desk.

‘
Lansing, let’s get this up on the screen so everyone can see it.’ Harper stood up and addressed the room. ‘It looks like we’ve found the guy who dropped off the package this morning.’ He nodded towards Lansing, who tapped a key on his laptop and sent the media file to the computer linked to a thin screen in the centre of the investigations room. ‘I want you to study it carefully and see if anything jumps out at you.’

The fifteen-second sequence played itself out in front of the audience of investigators. Curtis was the first to speak.

‘
I know we can’t see much of his face, because of the angle of the security camera, but I would say from the way his baseball cap is pulled low over his face that he’s definitely hiding something. There’s also something odd about the way he’s holding himself.’

‘
Okay – Lansing – put it on repeat. And watch carefully. I agree, there’s something about the man’s posture that doesn’t seem right to me. Lansing, can you zoom in on the suspect’s face when he hands over the package?’

As Lansing pressed another sequence of keys the grainy image started to break up into pixels.

‘
Is there any way of improving the quality?’ asked Harper.

‘
Let me try and stream it through a program. Hold on. Here. This should do it.’

The sequence started again, but this time the images appeared sharper, more defined. The suspect walked into the office, and over to the desk. He started to lift up his right hand.

‘
Okay, if you can focus in - ,’ said Harper. ‘Now.’

The lower potion of the man’s face came clearly into view.

‘
Look at his mouth,’ said Holt. ‘Is he trying to say something?’

‘
Could be. But I think he’s grimacing,’ said Curtis.

‘
Exactly. Like he’s in pain,’ said Harper. ‘Lansing – shift the focus to his hands.’

Lansing moved the mouse on the laptop and tapped another key. The suspect’s gloved hand – his right one - came into focus.

‘
He starts to lift his right hand – grimaces, stops – and then transfers the package to his left hand. He grimaces again.’

‘
But that package can’t have weighed more than a few ounces,’ said Holt.

‘
You don’t think –‘ said Curtis.

‘
That he’s the owner of what was inside the envelope?’ said Lansing.

‘
That’s exactly what I’m thinking,’ said Harper. He turned to Helen. ‘Get the lab on the line. Now. Even if they haven’t finished the DNA analysis they might be able to tell me -’

‘
Whether the digits are from the right hand, left hand - ’said Curtis.

‘
Helen,’ said Curtis. ‘Put Reeves on the speaker.’

Helen dialled the lab and informed Reeves, the forensics officer, that Harper wanted to talk to him about the fingertips.

‘
I am right in saying that it’s possible to determine which hand those fingertips are from?’

‘
One has to examine the shape of the fingers and the whorl pattern,’ he said. ‘You look at the direction of the flow of the apex ridges, the rotation of centrally circular ridges, the angles between the delta and the core and –‘

‘
Sorry Reeves, all I need to know is which hand they are from.’

‘
Let me look at the preliminary report. Yes, here we are.’ He went quiet for a few seconds. ‘What I can tell you at this stage is that one of the digits is from the right hand and the other is from the left.’

‘
And the DNA analysis?’

‘
It will be with you by close of play today.’

‘
Thanks, Reeves. We’ll talk later.’

‘
But why would this guy – whoever he is,’ said Helen, cutting the line, ‘deliver a package containing two of his own fingerprints to you?’

‘
He could be a psycho, someone who’s read one of Cynthia Ross’s stories,’ said Lansing.

‘
Or he could be being used like some kind of pawn in a sick game,’ said Curtis.

‘
But if someone had done this to him why wouldn’t he just ask for help?’ said Harper. ‘After all, he was on our doorstep. He walked into here, into the Parker Center, for fuck’s sake.’ He paused. ‘But if he was compromised in some way? If someone had some information on him that he didn’t want us to know about? He could be being played with just as –‘

Just then his cell rang. It was Kate.

‘
Sorry, I better take this.’ He turned his back to his team.

‘
How’s Cassie?’

‘
She’ll be fine. I left her at the hospital. She’s sleeping.’

‘
Have you finished?’

She hesitated.

‘
Do you have anything?’

‘
Sure do,’ said Kate, her voice breaking. ‘And - it’s really weird.’

‘
What do you mean?’

‘
I’ll tell you when you get here. I’m at the beach house. In the dark room.’

‘
What is it?’

‘
You need to see something.’

‘
Kate. What’s wrong?’

‘
Our worst fears come true.’

50

Kate opened the door looking ashen-faced.

‘
This way,’ she said, wiping the last traces of clay off her hands with a rag. ‘Follow me.’

Josh walked in silence towards the dark room.

‘
I’ve just finished. It’s still wet, and a bit unpolished, but – well, you’ll see.’

The metal trough that ran down one side of the room was streaked with smears of clay. On one of the trestle tables lay a selection of disfigured heads, incomplete studies with grotesque profiles and distorted features.

‘
As you can see I’m a bit out of practice,’ she said, gesturing towards the maquettes, ‘but with Cassie’s help I got there. But God knows, I hope she’s wrong. Maybe her brain is scrambled and she’s describing –‘

Josh looked towards one of the models on a stand, covered in a damp towel.

‘
Kate – let me see.’

She walked towards the sculpture and slowly removed the cloth. A head, modelled from clay, stared out at them; a head with the same square jawline, the same high forehead as Gleason’s.

‘
But it can’t be –‘ said Josh.

‘
I know, I know.’

‘
I never saw him in the flesh, but -‘

‘
But it’s like a younger version of –‘

‘
Gleason, yes.’

Josh walked over to the model, compelled by a horrific fascination for the man who had destroyed so many lives – even after death. He reached out and touched the maquette, the wet clay leaving a sticky imprint on his finger.

Both of them were thinking the same thing, but neither of them wanted to articulate their fears. Finally, Kate broke the silence.

‘
I never met him, but it can only be him, right?’

‘
Seems that way. Fuck, why didn’t we think about it?’

‘
I know. But there’s no use punishing yourself. If someone is declared dead then obviously –‘

Josh’s cell rang. It was Lansing.

‘
We’ve just got the DNA analysis back from Reeves.’

‘
And?’

‘
We’ve run a check with the national database. There were no direct hits, meaning that the guy has never been convicted of a serious crime, but the strange thing is that he –‘

‘
Let me guess. Shares a significant amount of yDNA with none other than Robert Gleason.’

‘
Yeah. How did you know?’

‘
I can’t go into it now,’ said Josh. ‘But I want you to bring Roberta Gleason in for questioning. And I need you to pull out the report on the death of Ryan Gleason. He died in a car accident in April 2004. Body found in a canyon between Moreno Valley and Banning. Also – can you find out the names of men aged between 20 and 45 who were reported missing around the same date.’

‘
What’s the deal?’

‘
I’ll explain everything when I get back,’ said Josh, cutting the line.

51

He drafted the letters carefully, shaping each phrase with the skill of a professional, choosing each word as if every expression were a matter of life and death. Which was entirely appropriate.

He started with the parents of little Sara-Jane.

Dear Mr and Mrs Gable,

I am sorry to have to write this letter when you are still in the process of grieving. But I have recently come across a piece of information that I think you should know. The subject which I am referring to is the passing of your darling daughter, Sara-Jane.

I realise how precious she was to you. Each human life is something magical, something sacred. But your daughter was like a pearl beyond price. For her to be taken away from you in such a sudden and cruel way must be painful beyond belief.